I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to automotive vehicle body constructions and more particularly to an automotive vehicle air front structure adjacent the lateral ends of an air box.
II. Description of the Prior Art
In an automotive vehicle as a passenger car or the like, it is a usual practice to provide, as shown in FIG. 8, a vehicle floor (not shown) integrally with a dash lower panel 1 which extends vertically and laterally of a vehicle body, and dispose an air box 3 at the upper end of the dash lower panel 1.
The air box 2 consists of a dash upper panel 3, cowl top front plate 4 and dash side panel 5. The dash upper panel 3 is welded at the rear lateral end portions to front pillars 6 (only one is shown) and at the front end to the upper end of the dash lower panel 1 as shown in FIG. 9. The cowl top front plate 4 is welded to the front end of the dash upper panel 3 in such a way as to extend upwardly therefrom.
Welded to the front lateral end portion of the dash upper panel 3 and the lateral end of the cowl top front plate 4 is a hood ledge panel 7 which extends longitudinally of the vehicle body. Welded to the rear upper end portion of the hood ledge panel 7 and the lateral end of the dash upper panel is a dash side panel 5. A hood ledge reinforce 8 extends over the hood ledge panel 7, dash side panel 5 and front pillar 6 and is welded to same. The hood ledge panel 7 is integrally formed with a strut mount housing 9 for receiving and supporting a front suspension strut (not shown). As shown in FIG. 10, a small gap or clearance "a" is formed between the dash side panel 5 and front pillar 6.
In the above structure, vertical vibrations transmitted from the front wheels to the struts during running of the vehicle subject the upper end portion of the strut mount housing 9 to such a force that causes the strut mount housing 9 and therefore the hood ledge panel 7 and hood ledge reinforce 8 to incline in the direction "F", i.e., toward an engine compartment 10. Due to this, it is necessary to provide the air box side structure with some means for preventing the strut mount housing 9 from leaning in the direction "F" by the force applied thereto from the strut. To this end, it has heretofore been practiced to utilize a brace 11 of an L-shaped plane figure and an L-shaped cross section, which extends between the cowl top front plate 4 and hood ledge panel 7 and is secured to same as for example disclosed in Japanese provisional Utility Model Publication No. 59-172615.
In the meantime, a bracket 12 for installation of a wiper pivot is provided to the the rear upper end portion of the dash upper panel 3.
In the prior art structure, the brace 11 and bracket 12 are independent parts and disposed independently on the opposite sides of the air box 2.